Italy provides $1.6 million
for WFP school meals program

Scheme targets over 100,000 schoolchildren in 185 public schools

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it has received a contribution of €1.5 million ($1.6 million) from the Italian government to support its school meals program that targets over 100,000 schoolchildren in 185 public schools.

“All children enrolled in schools are equally benefiting from these meals without any discrimination between Lebanese and non-Lebanese,” said Abbas Halabi, acting Minister of Education and Higher Education. “We look forward to the school feeding program becoming a permanent fixture in our educational plan in the future,” Halabi said.

The WFP said in a statement: “The program has also strengthened local ties with local businesses and links to other WFP programs. Almost all the food ingredients for school meals and snacks are now locally produced and procured, supporting the local economy, retail shop owners, and farmers.”

Italy has provided more than $12.7 million since 2016 through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation to support WFP Lebanon including the School Meals Programme. The program, which is operated in close coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, was launched in 2016 to boost students’ health, learning and access to education. “I have witnessed this program grow exponentially over the past few years, now reaching ten times more students than it used to,” says WFP Representative and Country Director in Lebanon Abdallah Alwardat.